When the Tide is silent
by Deuteronomy
Summary: After TLO, Percy and Annabeth fall in love with each other and start to "hang out" more. Percy starts having dreams about a strange voice calling for help saying that he left it. It is Calypso. Rick Riordan owns Percy Jackson, I just develop my ideas.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1.

Annabeth's P.O.V.

"Percy, don't sweat it, it'll be fine" I mumbled.

Oh Gods, he was so irritating when it came to staying calm, as he couldn't do it, especially when it was about us. We were standing on the shore facing Camp Half-Blood, it would have been a beautiful view if not half of the camp standing in single file gaping at us with there (what now seemed) gigantic eyes. We were making out with Percy, when we heard a low voice say "Lookey here guys, the two lost birds". Clarisse was stalking all the time! Anywhere we went to have some time with each other, just to talk about something or even for a kiss, she would pop out of nowhere always bringing someone with her and talk about how it's gross and stuff. Percy always answered "Than why do you follow?" which was kind of a good cut-off as she would always give out and angry "Argh…" and go away. This time though, it was different, it wasn't just Clarisse with some random kid, it was Clarisse, yes, but with a half of the campers, all gazing at us. Percy was looking around, his face had the why-don't-you-just-mind-your-own-bloody-business expression which kind of made this seen funny, even though it wasn't.

We both turned round now facing the water. I wasn't sure what Percy was thinking about but he sure didn't wan't to turn round again. I reached his hand, tying my fingers into his. He looked at me and we exchanged these your-so-adorable looks. Percy was amazing, in every single detail he was the man I would choose to spend my future with, of course if I hadn't made that choice already. I looked deeply into his sea-green eyes and saw something that I couldn't describe, something stronger than love. My heart beat increased, it was now beating so fast I thought it would explode. Then Percy started running forwards, pulling me after him, we ran into the water and dived.

Now seriously, if you hate water (especially diving) you'd change your mind when swimming with Percy. He could create an air bubble underwater, he could will clothes to stay dry, he himself could breath underwater and will currents to move him where ever he wanted. All the sea animals listened to him (once I remembered we were swimming with sharks whom I found out are good fellows to be around). It was just great. Now he summoned a large air bubble, about four meters in radius. It was warm inside. He sat down patting a place next to him. I sat down to and laid against his arm. It was so warm. He saw that I was quite tired, my eyes were literally closing by themselves now. I didn't want to sleep, not next to this man-model. He was fabulous, everything about him. Amazing. I did love him, I really did, I just didn't feel brave enough to tell him. He knew I had a crush on him, that was almost everything he knew out our relationship, he probably kissed only like 3 times before and I felt the lust of kissing. "Hold on" I told myself "Not yet, when he'll know what you really feel about him". I wanted to tell him now, now when there was no one to interrupt, no Clarisse to pop out of nowhere and start giving us the oh-my-gods-I'm-gonna-puke looks. But I feared rejection, I had so much now, we were practically a pair now, one mistake and I could lose it all. "Not yet-" I thought "not now…". And with that sentenced I closed my eyes increasing my hold on Percy and fell asleep.

Percy's P.O.V.

"Annabeth?" I whispered shaking her as gently as I could.

She was beautiful, she was no daughter of Aphrodite, but she topped them all, no girl I knew was as pretty as she. I didn't think she knows what I really feel about her, I mean, you can't be too fast when doing things with girls, they can just say "Oh Gosh, you actually were such an idiot to believe that I love you? Your soooo pathetic, it's done!". But this was Annabeth, she never took things seriously without thinking it through twice. "No, I can't tell her, even though we could kiss every minute, I can't take the risk of her rejecting me. One kiss per three days is still good…" I tried to be positive about the situation "but not enough" I added. I took a deep breath. I could take the risk though, even if it wouldn't work out, Chloe, daughter of Demeter already told me she had a crush on me and would "wait for me in case something happened". I took one more deep look into Annabeth's face. The thought that I could lose her was unbearable, but I had to tell her, maybe she felt the same thing to me. I prayed to my dad that things would go smooth. Once I finished I started to wake Annabeth up. First I started whispering her name. No effect. Then I started squeezing her hand. No effect. So I started saying her name. It worked. She slowly opened her eyes, they were beautiful, a lively gray colour that filled me up with joy whenever I looked in them, I guess a silver collector would feel the same when looking in a silver object.

"Percy?" she asked slowly sitting up. I stopped her.

"Lie down, it's okay" I said calmly. It worked, she fell back and look deep into my eyes. I knew it had to be now.

"Annabeth, see, I need to tell you something" I looked worried which automatically made her worried "Good, means she cared" I thought.

"You're not dumping me, right?" she said almost crying.

I looked at her with misunderstanding but then smiled which made her relax.

"No, of course not, don't even think that" I said smiling from ear to ear.

She gave a weak smile and then returned to listening what I had to tell her.

"You see it's mainly about what I feel" I explained.

"Are you hurt!?" she gasped. "Yes! She cares!"

I smiled "No, it's about what I feel about you"

She didn't get the point, she looked as if I was about to tell her that she should change her attitude, her entire self.

"See-" I started "-we're a pair-" I stopped to ask if I could call us that but she just nodded telling me to continue "-over a month now and when I asked you about… you know… going out, and that other stuff, you we're all excited and you started saying that you've always had a crush on me and umm… I didn't kind of mean that. I did mean that thing about dating but not completely about that crush thing." I knew what I said was pretty much so tangled up that it didn't have any sense but then I looked up, Annabeth's eyes were full of excitement, I even saw a tear form in the corner of her eye, a tear of joy.

"So you mean…" she started.

"I mean that I love you Annabeth, and that I can't keep myself away from you for even ten minutes" It came out of me. I was probably all red by now, I wasn't looking at her, just to the side, as if someone who told me what to say was staining there and I was asking if I said anything right.

In the same time, something big hit me and I fell to the floor of the air bubble. Annabeth had her arms around me. She was looking directly into my eyes. I could see it, she was so happy. I smiled back and then she said:

"I've been waiting for you to say it for too long, I thought that you didn't… that you didn't feel the same, that you wanted it to stay as it is…." she said slowly crying of happiness. She dropped next to me still clutching her arms around my neck "Oh Percy… I can't keep away from you too!"

I wasn't sure what was going on but the next thing I noticed was that we were kissing. Passionately, not like kiss and go, but a real long kiss. Her body was so close to mine, I could tell exactly where the edges of her body where. I grabbed her by the waist and we continued to kiss. It was amazing, I felt as if someone wrote one function in my brain, "love", and set it to idle. When we stopped, I could see Annabeth examine all the contours and details of my face, her eyes shifted, form chin to cheek, then to the eyes where our gazes met. I couldn't be more happy. We came out of the underwater world after an hour of no-you're-more-pretty talk. We exchanged one more normal kiss on the shore. It felt like nothing compared to the one we had in the air bubble and I saw in her eyes Annabeth thought the same.

"Later, dinner's soon, we better change clothes." I said.

Annabeth pushed me to the ground and fell beside me starting to kiss me like in the airbubble.

"Dinner can wait!" she said returning to our kissing.

"I think it won't" we heard a low, enthusiastic voice above us. I moved my eyesight from Annabeth to the mysterious person standing above us.

"You know, I used to think spying on you and seeing you hug was extreme but now… now you're busted!" I noticed it was Clarisse. We slowly stood up and found ourselves in front of, not half, but the entire Camp Half-Blood...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Percy's P.O.V.

It was dark, completely dark, I couldn't see anything. Occasionally you would here a water droplet fall from the ceiling, falling down and hitting the floor with a little "pop", spreading the echo all over a small space. I was in a cave, probably deep inside as there was no light, or perhaps it was a starless night. Impossible. I must have been deep in a cave. I looked around. Nothing, the walls of the place where perfectly round. I have remembered this place, I desperately ran behind me. I reached the entrance in 15 seconds, it was well lit now with the stars shining and the moonlight flooding the island of Ogygia. I was at Calypso's island, where she was cursed to live for eternity. The only question was, where was Calypso? She wasn't in the cave, she kept the light on even when sleeping. She wasn't here outside either, I could see the outside now. She also couldn't get to the water so I decided not to look there. I went back to the cave, maybe she didn't light the light this time. When I went in, it was completely different than the way I left it. The place was now well lit, with lamps in every corner, filling the place with friendly heat. I walked to the bed. At first I saw nothing, but soon, I could tell there was something barely visible lying on the bed, something almost transparent, I could only tell it was there because of it's silhouette. The edges were brighter. I slowly reached my hand to the shape. Exactly when I touched it's hand, the silhouette changed to a person. A girl. She opened her eyes. It was Calypso.

She had slightly tanned skin, brown, curly hair, her eyes, now widely open, were the colour of almonds, brownish-yellow. She gasped and then desperately caught my hand. Her skin was hot, almost as if she was burning. When she touched me memories suddenly rushed through my mind of how she healed me, how I helped her plant flowers on Ogygia in her garden, how she told me that she loved me, but I chose to leave her.

"Percy" she whispered tiredly.

I knelt before her bed.

"Calypso…" I answered.

She gently nodded.

"Why… why did you leave… you've no idea… what it's been like…" she said desperately, swallowing hard.

"I'm so sorry" I muttered. I could feel a tear form in the corner of my eye. I lowered my head.

"It's to late now" she said emotionlessly "I'm dying, I was angry at the Gods, that they took you away from me. I was too violent. They cursed me, I am dying Percy…"

I wanted to ask more, I wanted to do something, I was feeling so helpless…

In that exact moment, the cave vanished and I woke up, sweating as if someone poured a bottle of water on me. I quickly lay back down gasping loudly.

"It was only a dream…" I whispered to myself "She's okay".

Annabeth's P.O.V.

Gods, what was he doing in bed so late? It's ten o'clock and he's probably in the middle of some boring dream he could end and wake up. I decided to let him sleep another half an hour, then I'm going in and trust me, you wouldn't want to be woken up in Annabeth style. But it was Percy, Percy my love, Percy my life. I would be so careful with him… Just then I got sliced in the arm by a sword. Oh gosh, "First rule of battle strategy, Never let your opponent distract you." But it was Percy, how could I give up on thinking of him. Just then, SWOOSH, another slash, this time it cut me just above the wrist.

"Argh… Jake, can't you see that I'm not really paying attention?" I shouted.

"Thinking about him, eh?" she replied.

I was about to say "no", but my facial expression didn't lie. I was in fact thinking of Percy Jackson. I sighed.

"Oh Gods, girl, you gotta give it up at least for practice. I don't wanna chop your head off!"

"You wouldn't even get the attempt" I answered.

"Well you shoulda seen how I got the previous two. I just walked up, aimed for like ten seconds and then pirouetted slicing like a ballerina"

All of the fighters looked at Jake.

"Erm… I don't mean… you know… I hate ballet!" he managed to mutter.

The whole arena burst into laughter and Jake's face got red. Even I started to laugh.

Then Percy cam back into my head. "Oh he is so taking too much time!" I thought, dropping my sword and, marching out of the arena to the "U" shaped cabin field. I got up the 4-stair stairs up to the veranda and gave a knock on his door. Nothing happened. I knocked again. Again nothing happened. It wasn't kind of polite, but for Percy I'd even commit murder (sounds like I'm pretty insane), so I just charged in. There was nobody there. Cabin 3 was deserted. "So where on Earth could he be?" I thought. Next I tried the dining pavilion, not there. I checked the Pegasi stables, not there. So I walked in the direction of the Big House. Just then, Percy came out of the big house, his face was expressionless, but I could see a bit of worry. I ran forward to him. He gave a weak smile seeing that I was running to him. I fell in his arms, he was holding me firmly, as if just by letting go I'd fall into some pit and die. He looked in my eyes. Okay, I was literally drowning in them. They were sea-green, and when you looked deep into them, it was like a vortex, pulling you in so you couldn't stop looking into them. He leant over and kissed me. "Heaven" I thought. Then he stopped. Now I could see it. He was extremely worried.

I smiled.

"Hey" I said. That was kind of stupid to say, I acted as if I was brain washed, but the presence of him was sort of brain washing to me.

"I thought we already greeted" he answered giving me one of these smiles I loved.

"When?"

He kissed me again, this time more passionately than before.

"Oh, you mean that" I mumbled.

"Would you prefer a 'Hey'"?

"No, you could greet me forever"

He smiled again, this time it was an even better smile. If I would've met him like that I wouldn't be able to tell that something was worrying him.

"Are you worried?" I asked looking even more worried than he was. He gave out a weak "puff".

"Come take a walk with me" he said kindly offering me his hand. I took it and we headed to the beach.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Percy's P.O.V.

We walked slowly towards the shoreline. The sound of the waves sent relaxing signals through my body. Yet I couldn't relax. I told about my dream to Chiron, he told me not to make any silly mistakes, but I felt like I needed to check up on Calypso. I didn't want to mess in the business of the Gods so I didn't ask my dad about anything. The sun was just setting, sinking somewhere far away into the blue horizon. It was slowly getting darker and more silent. I didn't know how to put this to Annabeth, that I had to go see if Calypso was alright. She probably would just freak out and start becoming jealous, shout at me and do all the weird things girls do when it comes to rivalry. On the other hand, she'd accept what I had to tell her, if she really loved me she'd let me go. It was important to me. "I have to go, no-one would stop me. Not even Annabeth!". What on Earth am I saying? No, if going means hurting Annabeth in any way then I would stay, but on the other hand…

"So… do you want to talk about something?" my thinking was interrupted by Annabeth's voice.

I really didn't know what to say. Should I tell her about everything or just secretly sneak out of camp to Olympus and beg for a couple of hours on Ogygia.

Annabeth turned so that we we're facing each other. She looked deeply into my eyes, I thought my brain was melting. They were so beautiful, it's just hard to describe, but pick a person that you adore, that you'd go around the world for. Then pick one part of her that you like most. I'm sure you couldn't put into words why that part is so special.

"Yes, em…" I didn't know what to do. Tell her causing a high risk of massive conversations about 'how stupid it is to do' and that 'Calypso's ok, no need to check up on her', or not to tell her, in which case I would tell a lie but not hurt her. Well the first option seems doomy-gloomy so I went for the second option, I was about to lie to the girl I loved. I took a very deep breath.

"I thought that, em…" Think Percy think, what could you possibly ask her for by coming that far… Wait… Hang on… Nope, no ideas. Gee, I'm intentionally screwed.

And then this great idea cam to my head!

"Maybe we could like, have a little friend reunion?" I asked.

Annabeth stared for a moment with one of those are-you-dumping-me look.

"You know…" I started "We'd message Thalia, Nico, Tyson, grab some dinner, cinema perhaps, normal stuff"

Her eyes shone with excitement. I smiled.

"Aww.. Percy, yes, dinner will do fine, but…" My smile faded immediately. Did she have any special conditions? "Without them, just us, anywhere, even a picnic on the beach will do fine"

"Okay" I replied.

She leaned over and we shared one of our best kisses, it was just pure awesomeness!

Annabeth's P.O.V.

We decided to have our dinner tomorrow, on the beach a sort of picnic. I couldn't wait, I was too excited. After our conversation on the beach, we headed to the arena for some sword fighting. I was cut in two places, Percy didn't even had a scratch. Truth is, it's hard to concentrate when fighting with him, especially when he gives you one of these deep looks. After the first cut, Percy treated me like the most fragile item in the world, every time he would slice me when unprotected, he'd stop his blade in front of me and say: "concentrate". I was tired enough today. I dropped my sword and fell to the ground. Percy inserted his blade to it's sheath, then detached it from his belt and put it next to mine. He lay down next to me. We were looking into the stars. I turned my head to the side. Percy was still looking into the stars, he was worrying again, just like in front of the Big House. I didn't know what he was thinking, but I had to know. I didn't want to put him under pressure, hopefully he would tell me.

"The stars are beautiful" I whispered.

Percy blinked, the worry washed of his face.

"Not when I've got you here to compare"

I looked at him again.

"Aww Percy, thats so cute" my pulse increased.

He sighed.

"Are you okay?" he suddenly asked. I've no idea what he meant so I just nodded.

He exhaled.

"Good, I… I don't want you to worry about anything".

I sat up pushing myself upwards with my elbow. He was looking into the night sky.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He turned round and pulled me to him. He kept holding on for half a minute, then gently pushed me back and said.

"Never mind, it's just…"

He gave another big sigh and closed his eyes.

"Annabeth, I can't tell you yet, but I promise, you'll know everything"

He pulled me closer to him again and we kissed. It could've gone on and on for eternity, I wouldn't mind but we were interrupted by footsteps approaching the arena. A dark silhouette formed in front of us. I noticed he had four legs and was quite tall.

"What are you two doing here? It's past curfew!" came the deep voice of Chiron.

We stood up and ran to our cabins muttering a "I love you" as a good-bye. I heard Chiron saying something like "Ahhh… young people…" when we ran away.

I reached my cabin quickly and stepped in. Most of the people were sleeping, only Marissa and Claire were up studying some old books. They looked at me giving me the oh-good-she's-finally-back looks, I nodded in appreciation that they cared for me, the others didn't seem to. I fell onto my bed, I was too tired to do anything. I fell asleep hoping to have a wonderful dream about my love.

A/N: Next chapter on Saturday, I'm absent on Friday so I can't really update. R&R!


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Percy's P.O.V.

It was warm and humid, the wind blew gently hustling leaves and branches. The grass was emerald, covered with lots of flowers of unknown species or types, covering vast amounts of the island. I was standing in front of an entrance, about 4 feet in radius that led into a dark cave. Everything seemed familiar, yet everything seemed different. I was on Ogygia, but it was different than I have last seen it. Where used to be the calm sea was now a stormy ocean, where there used to be flower yards was now ruined soil. Everything was messy and ruined which was strange as Calypso used to care about everything on her island. In that moment, I literally flew into the cave in light speed. The cave wasn't big, it could fit a maximum of two medium sized cars but it always gave you a feeling as if the place was enormous. I stepped forwards, knocking pebbles aside as I moved, approaching the bed. I couldn't believe what I saw.

The person in the bed was a girl, about sixteen years of age. She was pale, her skin was white, I mean white, not light beige, not even the colour if you'd mix skin colour with white. Pure white. Her hair was messy, it was now dark, nearly black. She was thin, like an anorectic person but not the you-can-see-all-my-bones-and-ribs type. She was either sleeping or she was unconscious. If not for her still quite normal face I wouldn't have recognized her. It was Calypso, laying in her bed on her island. I fell besides her, tears forming in the corners of my eyes. I felt guilty, because of me she had to suffer now. If I would stay with her she wouldn't need to worry, she wouldn't do the most stupidest thing and call Gods names (no-one who likes his life would). I took her hand and immediately retreated mine. Her skin was cold, uneasy to touch. Shivers went down my spine. Calypso slowly opened her eyes. At least they stayed the same. She gave me a weak smile so I smiled back, even though you could see I was in pain.

"Percy, I'm…" she started choking, I had no idea what to do. She slowly got her breath back. "They put me in a special condition, I can't tell what they did to me, if I try… well you saw."

I hardly swallowed.

"Calypso, I'll save you, I'll talk to the Gods, they can't"

"Shhh… I don't think there's much you can do… What I've done is unforgivable, they will never release me from my curse…" A tear trickled down her cheek. She was gazing blindly into the ceiling.

"Percy, I don't think I can hold on much longer, this… it's killing me, it's a curse that heavily affects Gods, not mentioning half-bloods, that's why I need to tell you something and I need to know something from you"

"Ask away" I said trying to sound happy.

She swallowed and then started speaking.

"Remember one year ago, you were marooned on this island, on Ogygia. You washed up on my shore. I don't know if you remember but I told you about my curse that the Gods put upon me for supporting the Titans. The Fates were supposed to send someone on the island, someone who I couldn't help to fall in love with but someone that always, no matter what, would have to leave me. This also includes you. I don't know how long I'll still live, so I want to know one thing from you" she swallowed hard and then sighed "Do you love me, Percy?"

The next thing I said, it seemed to flow out of me, I couldn't stop it, I knew I loved Annabeth, she's who I want but Calypso, I had this mysterious feeling towards her I couldn't solve until now.

"I do"

She smiled once more and the image fainted, the next thing I know is that I'm in my bed sweating like a pig.

Annabeth's P.O.V.

Today I woke up early as I did not dream of Percy which worried me, therefor I wanted to see him even faster. I did everything as fast as I can, I did my morning bath, dressed up, combed my hair. Then I rushed out of the cabin. The sun was heating up all of Camp, the weather was great and that's a good start of the day. I passed the other cabins, the Apollo cabin, the Zeus cabin, the Hera cabin, reaching my destination, the Poseidon cabin. I rushed up the stairs and was just about to knock on the door when suddenly Grover appeared out of no-where and moved me out of the veranda.

"Hey Annabeth, Percy's not in, sorry" he said pushing me away towards the Athena cabin.

"Well where is he then?"

"Erm… he's… probably in the sword arena!"

"Why would he go so early in the morning?"

"I don't know, why don't you go and find out?" Grover asked pushing me now towards the Sword Arena.

At the same moment a giant boy, definitely older than me came out of the Hephaestus cabin with a girl, two heads smaller than the boy. She was as pretty as a flower.

"Annabeth!" shouted the boy. I now noticed it was Beckendorf and Silena.

"Hey Beckendorf, have you seen Percy today"

"Huh? Percy? Yeah, heard he went up to the Big House to talk with Chiron"

"Really?" I looked at him with the corner of the eye, shifting my sight to Grover. He looked scared.

"W-what?" he asked.

"You knew!"

"Annabeth, I can't tell you what… Hey, wait you can't!"

Grover was a satyr, he was faster than me. I only had one way of beating him. I reached for the back pocket taking my baseball cap out and put it on. Invisibility was great. Strange thing was even Grover knew where I was going, he didn't chase after me. He put his head down, turned around and headed into the forest.

I ran up the stairs onto the porch and entered the house. Good Mr. D. was away as he would easily tell that I was here. I headed up the stairs as quietly as humanly possible, then I turned left and was about to shout "Percy!" when I heard noises coming out of the last room on the right. I slowly, without sound approached the room.

"- but it still doesn't solve the problem Chiron" I heard Percy. He was angry, barely controlling himself.

"Well my boy, you can't demand both things, its either one or the other" this voice was deeper and more calm. It was Chiron.

I heard a sigh.

"So what about Annabeth?" Percy asked.

"Well you should tell her"

"The truth?"

"Yes, it will hurt her, now that you're relationship is" Chiron coughed "developing, but even the worst truth is better than the best lie."

I felt angry, angry that Percy had secrets he kept away from me, angry he didn't tell me anything. I could have exploded by now if not the fact that I indeed did love Percy Jackson no matter what.

"So should I tell her about the dreams?" Percy asked.

"Yes my boy, tell her everything, that will be the best"

"Like I don't know how Annabeth will react when I'll tell her about Calypso..."

Right now Percy caused the explosion, I felt my heartbeat rise and my pulse increase. I was boiling. I took my cap, took it off and tossed it aside, stepping into the room whilst slamming the door against the wall so hard the hinges gave a loud "ching". I saw Percy's face, it was scared, sad and afraid.

"That's what I meant, Chiron" he said.

"You" I pointed at Percy "Have a lot of explaining to do!"

A/N: More chapters incoming! R&R!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Okay, so I'm back, writing for you guys, giving up all the revision time I've got for this story, hope y'all love it… Just one more thing, it's sort of weird as I'm from Eastern Europe and most readers are from the states so I write the story in the evening and in the morning I've got review alerts. Right to the story, I need an idea of how Percy asks the Gods to release Calypso, because him going to Olympus and saying "Oh mighty Lord Zeus can you please free Calypso?" "Yeah sure" "Thanks mate" doesn't seem proper, post ideas in reviews!

Chapter 5

Percy's P.O.V.

Okay, I'm intentionally screwed, I can totally forget about any peaceful relation with Annabeth. She was standing there in front of the room at the door frame pointing her finger directly at my chest. Her hair seemed to turn more reddish as if it was on fire due to how angry she was. The only thing I could hear is Annabeth panting with fear. I had to face it, there are no excuses for what happened. I knew she used to get angry and irritated at even the slightest mention of Calypso, I mean the slightest mention which doesn't have to include Calypso's name. Just a second go I went past the line by saying her name.

"Percy. I. Told. You. Not. To. Even. Mention. That. Two. Faced. Scaly. Wag. Ever. Why. Have. You. Said. HER. Name?" Annabeth was literally angry, you could tell it by the way she used one word sentences, that was typical for her, she was trying to keep calm, but we both knew that she wouldn't keep calm for long.

"I… I… Erm…" I tried to find the appropriate words, no "sorry" or "forgive me" would help and Annabeth was seriously losing her temper.

"Out!" she yelled at me still pointing her finger at my chest. I turned my head towards Chiron who had a worried face. I nodded to him and then went out of the room and then out of the house. Annabeth over took me, leading me to the beach. She reached it before me, stopping at the place where the waves start to retreat. I arrived soon after swallowing hard. Was she going to forgive me, after I promised her straight after my return from Ogygia that I would not mention Calypso ever again if I wanted to be her friend.

Annabeth collapsed onto the sand and started sobbing quietly. I felt like I wanted to start crying to. I sat down next to her hugging her with one arm. She turned her head towards me, her cheeks we wet because of the tears, I didn't understand what made her cry that bad, when I used to mention Calypso she was only angry, she didn't cry, she was just angry. But this time it was different.

"Do you love me Percy?" she asked.

"Of course I do Annabeth, you know…" I didn't know what to say.

"You want to go to her, don't you? You want her more…" thats the most she could say, soon, she was crying puddles of tears. I kept saying "no","never","how can you say that" and "I woudn't leave you" but nothing seemed to reach her ears, as if pain had blocked them. I knew only on thing could help, it probably wasn't going to help but it was worth a try. I gently lifted Annabeth's chin and kissed her. It helped, I was saved. She stopped crying, opened her eyes and looked deeply into mine. I slowly wiped the tears of her cheeks. When I finished Annabeth gave a weak smile and then hugged me tightly. I think this meant she forgives me.

"Oh Percy, I thought you wanted to…" she started.

"Shh… Don't even think like that, I'd never leave you. My heart belongs to you"

She looked up at me smiling. We had the most wonderful kiss on Earth. This moment could last for eternity.

Annabeth's P.O.V.

After that long and romantic time, which I'm too tired to talk of, I headed back to my room thinking only of Percy. I tripped about five times, clumsily getting up each time thinking "Oh boy, that guy is gonna make me go mad…". He was too important for me to lose him and actually in the Big House I wasn't angry, I just wanted to make sure he forgets about that reckless piece of, well you know the word. It was late and I hope no one would catch us. I stepped up onto the veranda and stopped in front of the door, which had a nasty habit of screeching anytime it was opened. "Gods, please, please, please silence the door". I took a deep breath and opened the door slowly. They were quiet. "Thank you" I muttered under my nose in appreciation to the Gods. I entered my cabin quietly trying to make the least noise possible. Fortunately, after Melanie's unfortunate experiment we had our entire floor board repaired to a new one that didn't "crack". I got into my bunk, slowly like a snail. I wonder what Percy was doing now? Well I didn't have to guess, he of course was thinking of me now. With that fought I closed my eyes and fell into a deep, long, sleep.

IN THE SAME TIME

Percy's P.O.V.

There hasn't been much change in the cave since my last visit, it was humid, perhaps warmer, but the atmosphere was still unpleasant, something in the air made you not want to breathe it, as if there were little particles mumbling "Don't breathe us, don't breathe us". I walked to the bed where something like a skeleton was lying, a girl with anorexia maybe, thin, as if she hadn't eaten for weeks. Her usually brown hair had lost all of it's colour, as if the curse had absorbed it all. Her tanned skin was now white as snow. She opened her eyes to about twenty percent visibility.

"Percy… I'm… dead… soon..."

These words were like shrapnel, digging deep into my mind, then down my neck through the chest and to the heart. I gripped the center of my chest tightly, indeed something has stung me. This was when I new I couldn't wait longer, I had to rescue her, Annabeth didn't had to know. It was better to hide the truth from her than to hurt her.

"Calypso, I'm going to free you, you'll see…"

I focused only on waking up. It took me four tries to do so. I opened my eyes gasping for air, all in sweat.

"But first…" I muttered "I'ma have to take a shower" I jumped out of bed, took some fresh clothes with me and headed for the river.

Annabeth's P.O.V.

I was having one of my most amazing dreams. I was on a boat with Percy, somehow it was sailing by itself, we were lying down on pillows and kissing each other when suddenly he said "stop". I was kind of scared but then I figured out he said it to the boat (weird, isn't it?). The boat stood still on command. Percy stood up and so did I, he hugged me tightly and then… we fell into the water. Normally I would have been angry but somehow, I just couldn't get properly angry at him.

Then I woke up. I wanted to cry that something or someone interrupted this wonderful dream but I heard Percy's voice.

"Chiron, I am going, you've no idea in what state she is."

"Percy, you can't just leave camp…"

"I'm not leaving, I'm going on a quest, a quest to save Calypso!" he said with enthusiasm.

I collapsed onto the bed, my eyes full of tears. I think I was suffocating, the next thing I notice is I wake up, the sun high, in the Big House with half of the Athena cabin leaning over me.

"Where is Percy?" I manage to whisper.

"I don't know" Nicole answered "Chiron said he got some sort of mission"

So he did indeed go. I think I fainted again…

A/N: Gee I don't think the ending was proper but it fitted. OK, R&R and be sure to check my vLogg!

.com/CaiusSonofOceanus


	6. Chapter 6

Percy's P.O.V

I stepped into the stone-covered hallway flooded with people chatting, laughing or simply standing. Without any further hesitations, I walked forward and pressed the button of the elevator on which engraved were the initials "ESB" written in a somewhat majestic font. "Empire State Building" I thought. I approached the portier.

"Going up to Olympus." I said.

He looked at me as if I was mentally ill. I reached into my pocket, pulled out a golden drachma and held it in front of him. His facial expression turned into a more normal one. The portier sighed.

"A lot of traffic today." He mumbled with annoyance.

He walked towards the elevator door and inserted his key card underneath the elevator button. Immediately, the elevator door opened. I stepped in. To my right there was a ridiculously looking floor button-board. It was big enough to fit about 50 buttons but only one was on it, placed exactly in the center with the Greek letter Omega engraved on it. I pressed the button and the elevator began to ascend.

After a while, it stopped and the doors opened. I saw the enormous temples, buildings and parks that were located on Olympus, the home of the Gods. I started to walk to the main temple, on my way passing trees that grew diamond apples, water that turned any item into gold and many other magical, or god-like, creations. The main temple emerged right in front of me. I marched up the numerous steps on the stone stairway. On top, I saw a centaur sitting behind a giant desk. He had glasses on and was reading something. He slowly looked up and his eyes rested on me.

"How can I help you, Mr. …?"

"Percy, Percy Jac…" I felt that I was being cut away from reality by something. My eyes pulsed arythmically. Involuntarily, I grabbed my head and held it firmly with my hands. I heard in my head "Hurry up Percy, there is not much time left…". The voice was soothing and the pain seemed to be leaving, however I knew that the person speaking to me in my mind was in extreme pain. I recognised the voice as Calypso's. The whole sensation went away,

"Are you all right?" the centaur asked, pretending to care.

"Yes, I am. I'm Percy Jackson and I'm here to speak with Lord Zeus." I sound both confident and humble.

"Ah yes, the King of Gods foresaw you coming. Please, enter." The centaur made a hand gesture welcoming me into the temple. I walked past him and he went back to reading some very thick book. I passed the rows of massive columns and reached the throne room filled with the thrones of the Gods around a semicircle. I remembered how I once tried to sit on my dad's throne and he did not like it. All the seats were vacant apart from one, the center one on which sat Zeus, the Lord of the Sky.

I approached him slowly and bowed before him.

"Lord Zeus," I started "I wish to address you on the matter of…"

"I know what you want Perseus Jackson," he interrupted "but to even think of coming here and speaking of that matter was foolish enough, not mentioning actually coming to Olympus and asking me any favour for that wretched girl."

"But Lord Zeus…" I tried to say something but, again, the King of Heaven wouldn't allow me to.

"Do not ask me of such things, Perseus!" he shouted "I have no intention of releasing that traitor from her curse, no matter what you say. She has mistreated us and shall pay the price for her arogancy."

I sighed.

"Lord Zeus," he seemed to be annoyed with my constant tries of asking him to release Calypso from her curse. " I ask of you a favour for my help with the war against the Titans. I have turned down your offer of becoming a God, the highest possible honour, as I simply didn't want anything then. I have everything I need and don't want more. Now, that Calypso is in great pain, I ask of you to release her from her curse. You must agree with me, Lord Zeus, that what I want from you is less than what you wanted to give me."

"But she has spat on the Gods!" Zeus roared with outrage.

"After all the centuries of being imprisoned on an island alone, she has become bitter. You can't blame her for that, you put her there.

I seemed to have a point as Zeus' didn't look so angry anymore, more like he was thinking about something.

"So this is the only thing you want, is it? The girl relieved from her suffering?" he asked.

"Yes." I replied.

"Fine, I will agree to this but only under one condition. You never will ask me or any of the Gods for anything. Do you agree to these terms, Perseus Jackson?"

I didn't even hesitate, the urge to save Calypso took over me and I replied.

"Yes."

Zeus closed his eyes and reopened them very quickly. He wasn't sure if he had done good but at least he knew that I would never ask him for anything again.

"I understand that you want to go to Ogygia now?" he asked.

"Yes, if that wouldn't be a problem, Lord Zeus." I replied.

He sighed and lazily waved his hand. My surroundings became blurry and fuzzy but soon began to sharpen revealing the ordinary view of the island that Calypso was left to dwell on. I looked around. Everything was like I remembered it.

"Percy?" a familiar voice asked from behind me. I turned around.

What I saw was beauty. Pure beauty. A girl stood just in front of me smiling warmly. I was shocked. Suddenly, I forgot about Annabeth, all I could think of was this stunning person that made Aphrodite look bad compared to her. Her skin was slightly tanned and matched perfectly with the colour of the sand. Her brown, long, curly hair hung just below her shoulders. She wore a light blue dress that made her look even more pretty.

"Calypso," I gasped. "It really is you. I made it in time."

"Yes, you did. You're my hero Percy, you'll always be." she stepped forward once. I couldn't explain what I was feeling now, all I could describe was an awful tingling in my stomach. I remembered the last thing I told Calypso in the cave when she contacted me through her dreams. It made me feel even more strange. She now stood right in front of me, looking up into my eyes.

"Percy." She spoke slowly trying to make every word she said count as much as it could be possible. "I love you. Ever since you came onto this island."

I leaned over her slightly and kissed her. She grabbed me by the neck and we both fell onto the sand holding each other tightly. The feeling was amazing. It was nothing like the kisses I had with Annabeth, these ones were magical, something was different about them. For a moment I felt like I was suffocating and needed to grab some air but it felt to good to stop and also because Calypso was holding me so tight and close to her. Her body was warm, pleasantly warm. She stopped and moved back a bit looking deep into my eyes.

"I surely hope you aren't leaving now." She said granting me one more of the gorgeous smiles she had. We both laughed.

"Definitely not." I answered and she pulled me to her once more.


	7. Chapter 7

Percy's P.O.V

We lay on the warm sand as the sun began to set on the horizon drying off after having a swim in the sea. Calypso lay close, she had her head on my chest and was running her finger along my hand as if examining something.

"Wow," she started "I can't believe you're actually here with me. I mean, after all these years of being alone…"

I smiled and replied. "I'll always be here for you."

She rolled onto me and I held her close to me as if someone would take her away from me at anytime. Strangely, I didn't feel neither sad nor sorry for what I have done to Annabeth. I didn't feel the need to pity her, even if she was thinking of suicide now. I knew how much I meant to her but somehow, Calypso was more important to me, although I knew I would take the blame if she did something to herself and this worried me. Calypso raised her head slightly and noticed that my face had a worrying expression. She was a good observer.

"Percy, anything bothering you?" she asked sounding alerted.

I snapped out of wondering what was Annabeth feeling now and smiled lightly at Calypso.

"Yes, all good. Well, actually it's perfect."

Her lips curved into a smile, exposing her pearl-white teeth. She moved up and kissed me with the same passion as in the morning. When we stopped she lay flat on my chest and gave a deep sigh.

"This is amazing. It still feels like a dream though. I really don't know why." She looked at me again. "You are really here, Percy. Aren't you?"

"Of course I am." I assured her and smiled once more.

We rolled over and started kissing again.

Annabeth's P.O.V

"Annabeth, quit it. We want to sleep!" a male voice moaned.

I couldn't stop sobbing. Even if I died my body would still be crying. I knew how much trouble the situation that took place made in the Athena cabin, but I also knew that no one in the world was feeling what I felt now. It was the terrible feeling of your heart being torn out from your chest multiplied by a thousand. I didn't pray, I didn't ask, I didn't want no one involved in this, no-one sharing my pains. Yesterday, I even said "Don't you even try caring." to my mother telepathically.

"Jake, let it go. You wouldn't know how it is to lose someone you love. They've been together for short but friends for years. It's only natural that the feeling blossomed. Unfortunately, boys are boys and he wrecked it." Said some girl. I recognised it was Nancy, the new head-girl of the Athena cabin. Smart and caring, although I also wanted her to stay out of this.

"But it's been going on for two days now, how are we supposed to get any sleep?" Jake continued to whine.

I continued to sob, so as I expected, Jake got very angry. He was yelling stuff like "I can't stand it anymore!" or "Gods, will she be quiet!". I raised my head lightly and noticed that he took his pillows, wrapped them in his blanket and through them over his back.

"I'm going to the Big House, anyone going with me?" he said. I heard rummaging which obviously meant that some people were packing and going with him. I couldn't blame them, it really was impossible to fall asleep here. Something told me to lift my head and I did so, not knowing why. I saw Jake approaching the door. He was about to grab the door knob when the doors opened right in front of him to reveal a quite tall lady with brown curly hair dressed in a long, snow white robe. Light radiated in small waves from her and she stepped into the cabin.

"Good evening, children." She spoke in a soft, soothing voice.

"Mother." Most of the people present answered, some even bowed gently. Athena gave out a soft smile and walked towards me. Her face looked both worried and pitiful.

"Annabeth…" she said quietly.

I looked into her gently blue eyes and sat up, wiping the tears from my faces.

"Hey, mom." I answered. I was one of the few who addressed our mother as "mom". She didn't mind and I think that she even preferred to be spoken to as "mom".

"Come, we must talk." She gave me a hand which was quite a strange experience as I never actually had any physical contact with my mother. Her skin was warm and perfectly smooth. She wrapped one arm around me and we departed from the cabin. This was the kind of mother I missed all these years, warm, caring, loving. Even though the gods told their children that they loved them, I knew that they had too much of them to show each other the same, motherly love. I envied Percy that his father cared for him, he even was his favourite son. The memories of Percy brought tears back to my eyes and I started sobbing again. Athena shifted us to some golden room full of light. Golden. Meaning everything was made of gold. Olympus probably. Athena smiled and nodded.

"Yes, it's Olympus." She answered and walked to a golden bench just opposite the rear side of the fountain. The room was small and cosy. She sat down and patted a place next to her. I sat down next to her.

"Annabeth," Athena sounded worried. "I brought you here because I need to talk to you about what happened recently. I am very worried about you. You shouldn't be in this condition after two days. I know you really loved that… well you know what I mean, but even in such a relationship with strong feelings, you can't expect it to last forever. I was hoping you'd get over it after some hours, a day at most. This is worrying." I could hear that her voice was full of concerns. I was glad that she cared, the only person I could talk to about the break-up.

"Mom, I don't know what to do. I'll never get over it…" my voice was breaking. All the words that came out of my mouth were like poison, the more I said the more pain I felt.

Athena hugged me, which was very unusual and I even stopped crying for a moment. I couldn't stop myself from wrapping my arms around her too. She didn't refuse. Even though she was the Goddess of Wisdom, a wise person does not refuse comfort of someone in pain. I also thought that this was her mother's instinct kicking in, although technically she wasn't a human. Nevertheless, she was a mother and no one cares for their children that much as a mother does.

"Shhh…" she whispered. I held her tightly. For the first time in my life, I actually felt that I have a mother.

"Don't say that," she replied to my thought. "I'm always around. Remember, I'm a Goddess and so omnipresent. I always look after you Annabeth. You're important to me in a unique way."

I understood that this was her, that is the intelligent, way of saying "You're one of the few favourite children out of the tens of them that I have." I couldn't help a smile. My mom noticed that I was smiling and also smiled.

"Remember Annabeth, I'm always there for you, even if I don't seem like a caring mother. I don't blame you, I never was that of a mother as Aphrodite is. But still, I am trying to be a good mother."

"You're the best, mom."

Athena smiled. "Well, I have a meeting on Olympus very soon. I will raise the matter of why Zeus allowed to lift the curse from… her and I will have a word with Poseidon about his fishbrain brat." I didn't start to feel worse when she mentioned Percy, my mom was probably changing my emotions. "I'll shift you back to camp." She stood up and lifted me gently. "I promise I'll be back to check up on you."

"I'll make sure you keep that promise." I couldn't resist a smile when saying this and my mom also smiled. I felt better than previously now. Athena wanted to help me, she cared for me, she couldn't stand seeing me in the state that I was in. I was really glad that she visited me.

"Already you're better off." She noticed. "Alright, you need to get a good night's sleep now, I'll make sure that happens." Her words were like magic as I immediately felt that my eyelids were becoming heavy. She must have done something to make me fall asleep and not crash another night by crying. There was a fast flash of light and the surroundings changed from the pleasant, golden room on Olympus to the familiar interior of the Athena cabin. With what was left of my consciousness, I felt that my mom lifted me up and placed gently on the bed. The last thing I recorded was her telling Nancy to make sure I sleep well. The next thing I felt was drifting off to sleep.

A/N: see, Gods can be loving! More coming soon!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So, we had a lot of stuff about Percy and Calypso but not much about Annabeth, except for the things in Chapter 7. I want this chapter to focus mostly on Annabeth and what she is going through now, it also features some of my beliefs about the Gods and the wonderful world that Rick Riordan has made, so here it comes.

Annabeth's P.O.V

I woke up early this day, even though I had gone to sleep pretty late. I could only remember something about my mother and her taking me to some gold room. It was probably just a dream. I lifted myself to a sitting position in my unusually cosy bed, my eyes still closed. I rubbed my eyes and opened them. What I saw was very strange. It was the inside of the Athena Cabin, yes, but something was different. I looked onto the mattress and then noticed that my bed was much bigger. It also had three additional pillows, apart from the good old "Pillie" I brought from home all these years ago. I raised my sight and noticed a very pretty woman with brown, curled hair, dressed in a shiny-white robe, sitting on a golden chair that was definitely not there the other night. I recognised that it was Athena.

"Mom?" I asked in amazement. "What are you doing here?"

"Good morning, Annabeth." She gave me a warm smile. "As I told you before, I'm making sure you're not suffering anymore from what happened. I talked with Zeus yesterday on the meeting, he gave me three days that I can spend with you and I want to make all these years up to you to the full, possible extent." She looked deep into my eyes. "Zeus understands what's going on, after all, you're a human." She paused and understood that what she said could be quite condescending. "Anyways, I also spoke with Poseidon. He said that he can't control what his son is doing but he will talk with him. To me he actually sounded foolish."

She shifted her eyes from some imaginary object in the air to me and smiled. I was really happy that she was here.

"Well, Chiron took the others out on a field trip so we have today for ourselves in this pretty, cosy house. If we could call it a house." Athena ran her eyes over the walls of the place probably thinking that the cabin was too small to call it a house. "So, do you want to talk about something or just…?" she cut off expecting me to make a proposition.

"Hmm…" I thought. Now that my mother was here, maybe I could ask more about her. I looked at my mom who seemed to be surprised.

"Me? Annabeth, you already know everything about me from studies, what else can I tell you about myself?"

"For example, did you really spring out from Zeus' head?"

"Yes." She answered calmly.

"But how? I mean, unlike most of the Gods, you weren't born like humans or animals are born, by the joining of two cells that later divide."

"Well, I was born of a thought. Remember Annabeth that Zeus is considered the most divine and holy God. He is also our King. His thought, his word, it is the law. It is only natural that things are created from divinity. Look at religions, for example Christianity. You have God and then Jesus, his son, is born by the virgin Mary. Was Jesus born the natural way? Maybe, but Mary is still claimed a virgin. I don't want to compare this to other religions and faith but with us Gods, its different."

"Yes, mom, but can this be explained logically?"

"Can this?" my mom waved her hand and a pile of dollars emerged from the ground. I think I understood what she meant. Gods weren't natural creatures, they were divine and thus capable of "miracles".

"Don't call it miracles." She answered. I really didn't like the fact that my mom knew what I was thinking of but that's what you had to cope with when you're parent was a God or Godess. "Remember Annabeth, we're not humans. Many believe we're not even alive but have essences that have limitless power, fuelled only by the humans' belief and worship of us. Most of the Olympians don't believe in this as the memory of us has been suppressed amongst millions by new religions. I don't know what made us survive but we are still here, always have been and always will be."

What Athena said made sense, it even pretty much enlightened me about the nature of Gods. I still wanted to ask her more about her family, which also was my family, although it didn't really feel like it mostly. I also figured out how I was connected with entities I had no idea about. It was terrifying. I figured out that I was related to beings powerful beyond my imagination. Zues, my grandfather, Gaia, my great-great-grandmother and great-great-great-grandmother. Even Kronos himself, he who planned to kill us, all was my great-grandfather. These thoughts were terrifying. All of them, millennia old, where members of my "family". Athena nodded.

"See Annabeth, you have a family. Maybe we're not the best but at least we'll always be there."

"Mom," I started. "I'm really glad you're here."

Athena smiled and stood up. She was amazing, even though she wasn't the type of mom I always wanted to have, I would never trade her for any other mom who would spend every second with me. I think she heard my thought on that as her smile became even wider.

"Well, you must get out of bed, we can't have you lying in bed all day. Besides, you must be hungry." I noticed that she was right. I was so concerned thinking about members of my family that I completely ignored my stomach twisting and rumbling. "I'll meet you in the Big House then." There was a flash of light and Athena disappeared along with the golden chair. I grabbed all the necessities and headed to the Bathrooms.

When I was done I came to the Big House. It looked dull and gloomy without Chiron there. Mr. D was sent to some place in South East Asia to set some matters, at least that's what Chiron told us. I stepped onto the porch and went in through the main door. It smelled of wood and some sort of fruit. "Grapes" I thought. I turned right and walked to the last room on the left. My mom was sitting by the main table on the same chair that she sat on when we were in cabin nine. The table was full of delights, I also spotted my favourite breakfast dish, pancakes with cranberry syrup.

"You look nice." Athena pointed out. I couldn't help a smile. I stepped forward and sat opposite her.

"Wow, mom, that is a lot of good stuff here." I said. My mom obviously saw that I was very hungry as she simply replied.

"Help yourself."

I grabbed the pancakes with cranberry syrup and started to eat them. I noticed that my mom was also eating something, but it didn't exactly look like food. It was in the shape of small cubes and the colour of caramel or bread. "Ambrosia." I thought.

"Yes," my mom answered. "Even after thousands of years, the flavour is still good."

Thousands of years. It was quite a weird feeling to know that your mother was born before mostly anything you can think of. I looked at her and it was really hard to believe that. She looked so young. But that was the Gods, they could alter their appearance, change anything they wanted to. At times, I had a strange feeling. Something inside me, probably just curiosity, a trait that all children of Athena had, wanted to ask my mom how it is to be a Goddess, but not the physical aspects like changing forms and creating items, the inside, did she feel human, how it is to know everything, stuff like that. Apparently my mom heard my thoughts as she looked at me, her lips curved into a smile that she tried to hold off.

"Does it really matter that much to you?" she asked failing to hold off the smile.

"Mom, I know so much about you yet so little. It's like you're a different… Well you understand. It's just fascinating, I mean to know that your own mother is the Goddess of Wisdom. It's only natural that I want to know more."

She sighed. "Well, it's hard to explain, really, but I think I can attempt to show you." She sat upright. "Annabeth, move your arm, please." I moved my arm. "How did you do that?" the question was quite surprising and I raised my eyebrows.

"What do you mean? I just…" I understood what she meant. It was natural to her, to make objects appear, to change appearance, to know anything she wants, just like it was natural for me to be able to move my arms. "I see." Athena smiled.

"You're probably the brightest child I have."

"Really?" I was amazed by this. Through all these years and the minimal contact I had with my mother, she actually showed some… emotion towards me. I remember four years ago when I saw her for the first time. All she had said to me was "I'm proud of you.". It was comforting to know that even she could care for her children. An uneasy silence fell upon the room and I tried to break it.

"Mom, why don't Gods show more care for their children?" I asked, although I partly known the answer.

"Well, you see, partly because of the numerous children we have, mortal or immortal. Imagine, Annabeth, being a mother of a hundred. Would you be able to care for your children every single day, each one individually?" she looked at me lifting one eyebrow. "And now, imagine you were terribly busy each day…"

"But you can be in more than one places at a time, can't you?" I interrupted her.

"Yes, but the more we split the harder it is to focus on a certain task. Now, for example, I'm sitting here with you and also talking with Hestia on Olympus. If I'd be in more places, say ten more, a conversation with me wouldn't be particularly interesting. Plus, we have our jobs to do, especially Gods like Apollo, Zeus, Hades. They have duties that they must attend to, some involving being in more than one place at a time. Also, it's partly because of Zeus' saying. He has grown slightly bitter over the centuries, most demigod children he has are killed by Hera. Remember, she even threw Hephaestus off Olympus because he was ugly. Then he also forbid us to make any contact with our demigod children after Poseidon… well you know what I mean of course." I knew she meant Percy and how his father, Poseidon, left his duties to be with Sally and Percy so Zeus made a law forbidding the Gods to make any contact with their demigod children.

"I get what you mean, it's hard. But we, in general demigods, could use the help of our parents sometimes, especially the ones we don't see that often."

"Annabeth, I know what you want and what you're referring to but it's just hard, sometimes even not doable. Especially the last years when trouble was stirring up with Kronos rising to power. We try to be parents, it's not that demigod children are unwanted. For a God to match up with a mortal, that person must be especially important or outstanding in some way. Thalia's mother, she was considered the most beautiful woman of her times and that's how she drew Zeus to her. I know that one of Hephaestus' "chosen" ones was an incredible engineer. Even your father, brilliant and extremely intelligent…" Athena cut off realizing that the topic of my dad was somewhat a taboo. "I don't want you feeling like an outcast, I love all my children in the same way, but even now I'm spending more time with you than the rest. I don't blame you, you were in great pain and I as your mother have the obligation to help you."

Before we started a new conversation, I realized that everything that was left on the table was crumbs. I was so fascinated with what my mom was telling me that I didn't even notice that I was eating all the dishes one by one.

"Well, that was it for breakfast." My mom pointed out. "So, want to go for a walk to the library or anyplace else?"

At that moment I didn't know what happened but I think that my teenager instinct took over. What I said must have sounded ridiculous.

"Mom, can we go shopping?"

My mom looked at me with the are-you-kidding look which soon dissolved into a small smile. She stood up and as she did her clothes changed from the pure, white robe into jeans and a purple t-shirt with graffiti handwriting on the front saying "Oh My Gods".

"Wow," I said, my mouth wide open. "That's a side we don't get to see of you often, mom."

"Well, you never know." She held out her hand and smiled. I stood up and grabbed her hand. A yellow light covered us and we emerged in a completely different place than the kitchen of the Big House. We were in front of the Beverly Center Shopping Mall.


End file.
